Hitachi signs contract to build first train factory in Europe

£82m investment in North East will create 730 engineering and technical jobs

Hitachi Rail Europe and property firm Merchant Place Developments have signed an £82m contract to build the assembly plant for the next generation of British Intercity trains in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. 

The factory will initially build Hitachi’s Super Express Train, a bi-mode diesel / electric, bespoke designed for the UK. The Super Express Train (SET), which has been criticised by some experts as too complicated, will replace the existing fleet of ageing diesel Intercity125s on the Great Western Main Line and the East Coast Main Line. 

Hitachi was awarded the £4.5bn order for 596 SET carriages by the Department for Transport under the Intercity Express Programme in July 2012 as part of the Agility Trains consortium. The company has said the Newton Aycliffe site will also build the rolling stock for Crossrail should the company win the contract to supply the London rail project.

The construction of the plant is expected to begin at the end of this year and be completed by 2016. The first Super Express Trains are scheduled to enter service in 2017. Around 730 long term jobs are expected to be created at the plant, including engineering positions in a R&D department. 

Alistair Dormer, executive chairman and chief executive officer of Hitachi Rail Europe said: “This signals a new phase in Hitachi’s commitment to the British rail industry. By investing substantially in our train factory, we are creating employment opportunities for a large number of engineers and technicians in the North East of England, which has a strong tradition of engineering skills. We are keen to fill our order books, building trains here in the UK – for use in Britain and for exporting to continental Europe.”

Merchant Place Developments will now award further contracts to build the factory to sub-contractors during the next few months. An archaeological survey is currently being carried out on the site, which is expected to take three to four months.